This forum is for discussion pertaining to homebrew and indie software for the Dreamcast, such as homebrew games, emulators/interpreters, and other homebrew software/applications. Porting requests and developmental ideas are not to be made here; you can make those here. If you need any help burning discs for homebrew software, this is the place to ask as well.

The contest runs from July 6, 2018 and ends on December 31, 2019 (extended from the original end date of September 9, 2019 to allow for more time for development of entries), as this year marks the twentieth anniversary of the release of the Dreamcast outside of Japan. Submissions can be submitted at the Dream On Contest itch.io jam page.

The first place prize will be professionally pressed on CD for commercial sale.

The rules for first prize need to have the assets created by you or your team, have permission to use them, or have a license that allows you to use them.

Anyone who isn't interested in a commercial release of their game is free to submit anything they like. Emulators and applications will fall under this as well, unless you submit an emulator or application that runs an original game that you own or an original game that you have explicit permission to use.

First prize entries must be an original game, although improved versions of games that you created will be accepted as well.

Entries that aren't submitted for first prize consideration are no-holds-barred. Enter whatever you like. It'll be interesting to see what's submitted.

Prizes other than first prize hasn't been decided yet, but there will be prizes for at least second and third place as well.

The contest has been set up to run until September 9th to leave ample time for the creation of entries.

Teams are permitted. If you wish to use pre-created assets please use those with licenses that allow commercial use as a pressed game award is the first prize. This will be similar to the previous Dream On contests, where The GOAT Store published the winning entries. It's unknown at this moment whether The GOAT Store will publish the winning game again, but the game will be professionally pressed and sold commercially. I have had CDs made from Disk Makers and will be using their services for the winning game under my Cyberdog Castle company if The GOAT Store opts not to publish. Their pressed discs and cases are of awesome quality, so the winning game will be great no matter what.

To help alleviate some concerns raised in previous Dreamcast contests, I (MetaFox, also known as JenniBee) am offering to create game assets (music, art, sound effects, voice work, etc.) for any entry that requests it. Send an e-mail to jenni@cyberdogcastle.com if you'd like me to create something for your project.

Feel free to use any of my previously created assets in your entry as well. I'll be submitting an entry or two myself. Of course, I won't be eligible for prizes but I'll be adding assets (art, music, sound effects, code, etc.) to the aforementioned assets repository as I make them, so feel free to use whatever you like.

Last edited by MetaFox on Thu Sep 05, 2019 7:17 pm, edited 4 times in total.

No rules this time around (other than to make sure if you use assets that you didn't create, to make sure the license allows you to use them). Other than that, just have fun.

I've got an awesome update to give: The first place prize will be professionally pressed on CD for commercial sale.

The rules for first prize need to have the assets created by you or your team, have permission to use them, or have a license that allows you to use them.

Anyone who isn't interested in a commercial release of their game is free to submit anything they like. Emulators and applications will fall under this as well, unless you submit an emulator or application that runs an original game that you own or an original game that you have explicit permission to use.

First prize entries must be an original game, although improved versions of games that you created will be accepted as well.

Entries that aren't submitted for first prize consideration are no-holds-barred. Enter whatever you like. It'll be interesting to see what's submitted.

Prizes other than first prize hasn't been decided yet, but there will be prizes for at least second and third place as well.

I'll be submitting an entry or two myself this year, but of course, I won't be eligible for prizes. My entry (or entries) will have completely open assets though (art, music, sound effects, code), so feel free to use whatever you want from them in your entry. I'll be releasing the assets as they're made at My Github page

How does the first place prize work in determining how many disc case artworks are printed and discs pressed? Will the winner's submission be printed / pressed all at once up to a set number of discs or will costs for printing / pressing be covered in perpetuity for as long as the game is sold as an "on demand" service? Is there a page, document or form anywhere giving the detailed rules / prize details / legalese, etc?

After a month with no updates here or on the official page, etc, I take it it's safe to assume this competition has been abandoned by its creator? I was hoping to start at the beginning of this month to see what I could build in two months time, but with no guaranteed prize incentive, I think I'll have to pass on this to focus on other projects.

How does the first place prize work in determining how many disc case artworks are printed and discs pressed? Will the winner's submission be printed / pressed all at once up to a set number of discs or will costs for printing / pressing be covered in perpetuity for as long as the game is sold as an "on demand" service? Is there a page, document or form anywhere giving the detailed rules / prize details / legalese, etc?

Cydoca Entertainment (my company) will publish the winner, and the commercial pressing company I'm going to be using has a 300 print minimum for professionally pressed discs. 300 would be the original order. Cydoca's contract with the winner would be for 300 discs, and then the rights would revert back to you, as I don't personally believe in perpetual publishing rights. After the first 300 disc run though, you're free to go with another publisher (GOAT Store Publishing, JoshProd, etc.), however, you're also free to continue with Cydoca after that and I'll order another 300 discs and keep doing so as supplies run out as long as you'd like.

It also should be noted that in past Dream On Contests, we (myself and The GOAT Store for the past contests) worked with the winners to polish the games to commercial quality, and to playtest them to iron out bugs. So don't worry if your entry isn't as finished or as polished as you'd like - the contest window isn't very large after all. You'll definitely have time to extend and/or polish the game as much as you'd like before it's published.

Thanks for all the entries, and thanks for understanding when I've been away. I've been a lot busier with the Red Cross than I thought I would be, and as I only have had access to a Red Cross computer that blocks gaming websites, I apologize for that.

I'll be going through the entries soon, but to make up for my absence, I'm going to give all four people who entered the contest their pick of these JoshProd games, from my collection (first come, first serve, as I only have one of each):

I'm not sure if there will be another contest this year. I wasn't planning on it, as I was originally planning on doing another one in 2021 or so, but I might start one this year and end it sometime next year. The coronavirus changed everything, so considering everyone's stuck inside now, it might be a good idea to do one again.

On that note, I got all of the packages out to the people who participated in the contest in the mail today, finally. So your games should be arriving sometime soon.

Once I play through all of the entries and choose a winner, a decision can be made on whether to have another Dream On contest begin this year.